Tuesday, January 29, 2008

i have some news...

but i can't tell it yet. it's something really, really good, too. tee hee hee...

i'm in a pretty good mood right now. i just found out a little while ago that the chair lift is fixed at the pool at the aquatic center. this means water aerobics!! it also (hopefully) means more weight loss and getting strong again. i was giggling after i got off the phone with the guy who teaches the water aerobics classes. i almost have my bag packed for tomorrow's class. :)

tomorrow is also weight watchers wednesday. i'm hoping to have lost at least a pound. i feel like i've lost some, but it's hard to tell. my pants are definitely getting bigger. my underwear is even getting a little baggy. that's ok though. it means smaller sizes...yay!

it's time to go....they are hollering at me to come to eat dinner.

Friday, January 25, 2008

happy birthday to janelle!

so janelle is now officially 18! oh my...does that make me old? lol...i had several folks at work ask me if i felt old. i really don't. i just wonder where the time has gone.

janelle and i got up a little earlier and had a birthday breakfast at a local diner. she cracked me up while we were waiting on the place to open. she said several of her friends had asked her what was the first thing she was going to do now that she was 18. tattoo...lottery tickets...etc. she told them she was thinking about either buying a shotgun or getting sleeves (full arm tats in case you didn't know...like i didn't know). now of course she was joking. she tried to say she didn't have a curfew. yeah right...it's still 12 on the weekends. but i had to give her credit for trying.

we saw a couple of teachers from her elementary school. one of the teachers said she keeps track of what janelle is up to and commented on seeing articles about her in the local paper. it was good seeing them and catching up.

janelle has been involved in a lot of community work this year. one of the big projects she has been working on is teaching younger kids about online safety. at one elementary school she found out that about 1/2 of the kids in 5th grade had a myspace account. she explained to them that they were not old enough to have a myspace account. she has also been educating parents on internet safety.

earlier this evening mom, dad, and i sang happy birthday to janelle and had her blow out candles on her cake. i wanted her to have a cake on her birthday. mom found a small chocolate cheesecake for us to have. we're going to have it tomorrow after we get back from carrabbas. she also got her gifts (mostly money). mom gave her a scratch-off lottery card. she said now she can legally play the lottery if she wants to. she is out now with friends celebrating. they went to one of the pizza parlors here and will probably wind up at the movies.

i'm glad it's the weekend. i'm wiped out. i'm trying not to get sick. my sister isn't able to visit this weekend. she is at home sick. mom told her to stay at home b/c we don't want to take a chance of getting whatever she's got. plus suzy doesn't need to be driving if she's not feeling well. she has had a tough time recovering from colds and sinus stuff. one of her co-workers comes to work sick and infects everyone who comes in contact with them. suzy has asked her to not come in when she's infectious, but she does anyway. and this lady is a manager so suzy has no authority to demand she stay home. it's just inconsiderate if you ask me. i had a co-worker that was like that. we finally got through to her to not come to work with a fever, etc.

i've got some blog reading to catch up. one thing i did read yesterday was beverly's post on hot brazilian's miracle tea. i'm going to try some of that myself this weekend and see if i can kick this sinus thing i've had going on for a couple of weeks. she said it has really helped her out because she is prone to upper respiratory infections and sinus stuff. it's worth a try to me if it will kill off whatever may be lurking in my body.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

officially at 3:08 am january 25, 2008

my janelle will be 18 years old!! oh my where have the years gone?! about this time i was in the hospital in labor, having a major bout of heart burn and feeling the contractions in a big way...lol. i was scared to have an epidural so i had the demerol drip. it helped some with the pain, but not completely.

janelle and i are getting up a little earlier tomorrow morning to have breakfast together before school and work. we used to eat out for breakfast on fridays when i would take her to school. now that she drives herself to school, we don't have much of an opportunity to do that. and i want to start the day off with just the 2 of us hanging out.

my sister suzy is going to be here tomorrow and spend the weekend with us celebrating. we're going to carrabba's to eat instead of the usual yearly visit to the japanese place. mom is going to pick up a fancy chocolate cake from earth fare. that's going to be my one indulgence...celebrating janelle's birthday. i'm going to be careful about my food choices earlier in the day so i can enjoy the celebration. plus i have the flex points to use for special occassions like this.

oh, on the weight watchers front...lost 2.6 more pounds for a total of 23. :)

life is good.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

for some strange reason

blogger is messing with my blog. the header section and the other stuff that was in the side bar are now in the footer section. i have no clue why. it's aggravating b/c i tried to fix it and i can't. so i've lost some of the stuff i had on there. grrrrrr........

Thursday, January 17, 2008

day off

yesterday i talked about how excited i was about my brother calling me from daytona super speedway during nascar testing. i had to laugh at knit 'n nascar because she nearly go chills just reading about me hearing the roar of the motor. lol...i gotta love her b/c she sounds like a true fan.

she did pose the question of whether elliott would be clean-shaven or scruffy. i know he was growing his beard for hunting season towards the end of the 2007 nascar schedule. here's some fan pics on the sadler fan club site. there's some scruffy and clean-shaven pics of him. he's a cutie pie any way you look at it....lol. the lucky girl in the picture with elliott and blake shelton is a friend of mine here locally. she has this knack for being in the right place at the right time to see elliott. she said she always looks for him at blake shelton concerts because they are such good friends. elliott has been in a couple of blake's videos too.

i went to see dr. b today. he said my knee was continuing to improve. he still encouraged me to hurry up and get on a exercise routine. i told him about the chair lift at the aquatic center and he said i needed to pester them...lol. he was happy to hear i had lost 20 pounds so far. he said to keep up the good work. :)

after i left his office i went over to borders to check out the latest knitting magazines and look at some of the knitting books. it was nice and relaxing. i have missed going to the bookstore and hanging out. i need to do that more often. for some reason i feel refreshed and inspired afterwards.

i'm doing good today on my ww points. i avoided the pitfall of the goodies at borders cafe. i almost got the apple dumpling to eat just half of it and take the rest home. the lady who waited on me pulled out the nutritional guide to give me the breakdown of calories, fat, and fiber. when i saw 21 g of fat, i said no way. i opted for a biscotti and a sugar free vanilla latte with fat free milk. when i calculated the points on the ww website, i came up with 4 points for the snack. i did pretty good if i do say so myself. i didn't plan properly and bring snacks, but i did manage to avoid a sabotage. i've got enough points left for a good dinner and a nice snack this evening.

i'm a little sleepy right now due to having to take some allery/sinus pills. i was sneezing and congested earlier today and needed some relief. i think i'm going to take a little 30 minute nap to recharge some. i want to try and get more done on dad's wwi balaclava. after a nice nap, i'll be ready to go. :)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

better today...even better tomorrow

donna commented that she hopes i'm not coming down with something like she did. i feel much better today. i didn't wind up going to bed early, but i did have a restful evening watching biggest loser with janelle. i slept all right although not as long as i would have liked to. but that's ok because i am off work tomorrow.

i have a follow up with dr. b about my knee and how it's progressing. i think it's coming along fine. not as much pain as i was having and i'm not using the cane. i feel like it's getting stronger as time moves along. i called about the chair lift at the aquatic center. the part still hasn't come in. i've got to figure something out so i can get to working out and get stronger. our hr rep at work said i could get my doctor to write a letter for me to join a health club and pay for it with my flex spending money. i'm going to have to check on the website and get the particulars. i'm sure dr. v or dr. b are more than willing to continue to encourage this weight loss and me getting healthier.

weight watchers update: i lost 2 more pounds, putting the grand total so far at 20.6 pounds lost. :) i'm a happy camper. one of my co-workers who isn't in weight watchers said she had heard i had lost the most so far. i don't know if that's true b/c some of the others have been doing pretty well. this one lady, pam, has lost 15-point-something so far. frances has lost almost 12 pounds and is close to her personal goal. i think she has another .8 to lose to be at her 10% goal for this session. considering that she hasn't been able to work out like she wanted to, she's done really well with those last few pounds.

on the nascar front, my brother called me from daytona this afternoon. he had to go to florida for business and just happened to get to go to the daytona super speedway. he was able to catch the last little bit of practice. michael waltrip was testing on the track while we talked. it was really cool to hear the car as it drove by my brother. one time it was really loud and he joked about michael running over his toe. i guess michael's car was close to the fence. i know i'm a goober b/c the hairs on my arms were standing up when i heard the roar of the motor as it went by. that's ok...only 5 weeks to the daytona 500!!!

i'm gonna run now. i want to do some knitting before dinner time.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

tired

i don't know why, but i'm really tired today. i hope i'm not coming down with anything. the weather has been cooler over the last few days and folks are coughing and sneezing. i've been washing my hands a lot and trying not to touch common surfaces too much.

it's been kind of rough couple of days at work. lots to follow up on, lots to catch up on, and lots to be informed about. i'm sitting off from my group so they tend to not tell me stuff until a few days later. with me not feeling good, i pitched a fit about that. i asked when was i going to be moved to my permanent spot. who knows....i guess i'll continue to be the red-head stepchild for a while.

i've got to go fix dinner. and then i think i might go to bed early and get a good night's sleep. that will probably give me a better outlook for tomorrow.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

knitting fiend

as soon as i'm finished binding off the lace capelet from rainy day goods, i'm casting on a wwi balaclava for my dad (helmet b). so it's hard to type and try to knit...lol.

hope everyone has had a good weekend!

Saturday, January 12, 2008

it's saturday

not much to report here...it's been a kind of slow saturday for the most part. some family drama this morning that i'd not like to discuss. mainly because it's all settled and done.

i went to hobby lobby. i was disappointed mainly because their yarn sale wasn't that great. i did manage to get the yarn for the project i'm making my dad. they had the lion brand wool on sale so i picked up what i needed. i also picked up some more needle protectors, markers and a new counter. the counter is one that you click as you finish a row. i've got one that you turn but sometimes it can be aggravating.

i made an error in judgement with my lunch choice today. i got a grilled chicken wrap from sonic, but forgot to ask for it with no ranch dressing. guess how many points that is? with...13! without ranch....8. janelle told me to make note of it and move on. i'm disappointed that i didn't pay attention a little better. i just calculated my points for the day. i went over which i figured. the amount over is the difference between the wrap with and without ranch dressing. i just have to be careful about my choices and think things through.

i'm going to go now. a movie is coming on i want to watch.

Friday, January 11, 2008

let's hear it for the weekend!

i am so glad it's friday!! it has been a long, long week. there's been a lot going on at work...closing...month end, year end, finalizing budgets, etc. i'm glad to be able to sleep in a little later tomorrow.

i just got off the phone with my boss. she is on her way home. her week has been very hectic. this was the 1st month end in her new role and a lot happened. i told her there was one day that i wanted to get up and hug her when she walked by my desk. i told her that she looked completely wiped out and to the point of tears. she said she knew exactly when i was talking about and she said she had to pull it together. she's not normally emotional like that. all in all i think she's done really well considering the amount of pressure on her this week. i'm going to try and find some of her favorite chocolates this weekend and make her a little goody bag. i think she'd like that a lot.

i'm planning a trip over to hobby lobby tomorrow. i've still got the giftcard burning a hole in my pocket. last week they didn't have much yarn on sale as i would have liked so i waited. i'm hoping to stock up on some more yarn. lol...that's what we all need...more yarn!!!

i've got to catch up on my emails and blog-reading. have a great weekend! do something fun!!!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

One more day til the weekend! I'll catch up tomorrow...
==========================================
This mobile text message is brought to you by AT&T

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

It's hump day and that's all i'm gonna say about that.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

on the eve of weight watchers wednesday

a friend of mine who is in my weight watchers group shared this website with me. there's tons of good information on dottie's website and helpful hints with following the ww program. i have subscribed to the newsletter and get even more inspiring information delivered to my inbox.

here's the link to the restaurant guide. oh my goodness...were my eyes opened wide as well as my daughter's eyes. i looked back at some of the things i used to eat and it's a wonder i don't weigh even more than when i started the program.

i have seriously dipped into my 35 extra points for the week. thankfully the points reset tomorrow for the new week. i'm going to work very hard and try not to go over if i can help it. i haven't had really any activity to speak of. the chair lift is still broken at the aquatic center, so no water aerobics.

i found out that a gym membership can be covered under my flex spending account if i get my doctor to write a subscription or recommendation. i've got to call and find out exactly what is needed. i'm hoping a letter from him will suffice. even if flex doesn't cover it, the cost is only $50 a year for residents inside the city limits. you get access to an indoor track, various workout machines (treadmill, elliptical machines, stairsteppers, recumbent and stationary bicycles), rowing machines, and weight machines. it's not a bad deal even if you live outside the city limits b/c it's only $100 a year. so...what am i waiting for, right? got to get myself in gear!!

i am trying very hard to have a good attitude at work. it's been hectic and i'm learning new things and of course making mistakes b/c i don't knwo what i'm doing in some instances. it's getting a little easier for the most part. i'm not sure how my boss is handling it though. i feel for her even though i get aggravated when she is short with us. she's got a lot on her so i'm not to let things bother me. a couple of the others have made comments to me and i'm trying to lend an ear. until we all get used to each other's ways and personalities, it's going to be kind of strange. they will learn to tell when she's in a bad mood...lol. she conditioned us all in the old department!

i'm tired. janelle has convinced me that we need to get up earlier so she can straighten her hair with her new straightening iron. we are now getting up between 4:30 - 4:45. she has to be at school before 7:15 and needs time to sit and stare, shower, eat breakfast, get dressed, and get beautiful...lol.

i didn't realize that sometimes when i go wake her up, that she's really not awake when she answers me. she told me to ask her if she knows it's time to get up. she was slow going this morning. i had to go in 3-4 times until she finally got up. she's like me....not really a morning person. we don't really talk much...just do our thing and then we wake up fully and get on with our day.

well i'm going now. 4:30 gets here quick.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Imagine

Imagine

The guy sitting next to me has said the word “Imagine” about 50 times in the last 5 minutes.  Is it Monday or what?!!!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

do you ever have one of those days?

you know the ones...where everything gets under your skin? well, i'm having one of those days today. i don't know why. i just seem aggravated by everything. i'm having some cravings, but don't want to act on them. i don't want to sabotage my progress so far. i know i'm in a funk and i don't want to give in to it. i'm sure it's the dreaded p-m-s kicking in b/c all the normal signs/symptoms have been rearing their ugly heads. by tomorrow i will probably be crying about something trivial...lol.

some of what has aggravated me is my parents both getting on to me about an "exercise routine". they know more than dr. b i suppose. i can't help it the chair lift is broken at the aquatic center and that i'm not strong enough to lift myself out of the pool at this point. dr. b said he didn't want me to do any jarring type of exercise. he said to stick to water aerobics, swimming, or a stationary bike. i need to go renew my membership at the rec dept and do the bike in the meantime.

my dad kept on and on about how i needed to get out and walk the neighborhood. when i tried to explain to him, i get all this b-s from him about what he did when he had his knee surgery back in the day. with me being in this mood, i just didn't want to hear it.

sorry for being so grumpy in this post. i had to get it off my chest.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

so here's day 1...

of trying to see how many days i can blog in a row. one of the things that i have tried to do since i joined nablopomo back in november was to continue with daily postings. well, i missed yesterday. :( i think i posted 61 days straight which is better than i've done in the past.

there were several times at work yesterday that i thought about moble blogging, but was too busy to really concentrate on it. and last night when i was working on my ripple crochet blanket, i thought about sending a post from my cell. and then at 2am this morning when i was watching platoon (and crocheting still), i realized i had not posted. such is life...i'll survive.

i took janelle to get her hair cut today. well actually she just needed about an inch cut to get rid of dead ends. she had john dry it straight and i can't believe how long it's gotten. she talked me into helping her buy a ceramic straigthener so she could straighten it sometimes.

after we left john's we went to earth fare to get some lunch. i got sushi because i've been wanting some lately. the sushi chef was making up some fresh platters when we got there. i got the sunkist platter which had salmon, shrimp, tuna, and avocado and some type of fish that was real tasty. janelle got one of their small pizzas. it looked good but she said it was kind of greasy. we also shared a key lime pie from the bakery section. i had a couple of bites of it which surprisingly satisfied me. i debated on a cup of coffee, but passed. i'm definitely changing the way i think about my eating. yay! finally!!

obviously we weren't the only ones who wanted lunch while we were there. the cafe area was almost filled to capacity and some guys were setting up some more chairs and tables in the overflow area. there is so much variety with the foods that it is overwhelming. and they have samples all over the store. mom said you could snack your way into a meal there while grocery shopping. of course that is something i would have to be careful about b/c of the points. i'll have to ask our ww leader how to count those types of things in case i do want to try something.

i'm going to go now. i have to catch up on some emails and blog reading.

kisses...

Thursday, January 3, 2008

crochet goodness

this evening i've been checking out 2 of my favorite crochet-alongs:

when i was a kid, my mom taught me how to crochet. for some reason i caught on fairly quickly with crochet. on and off throughout the years, i've crocheted various things like baby blankets and scarves. last year i made a granny square lap afghan for my mom (while watching kill bill vols. 1 & 2....lol). i also crocheted 2 cute amigurimi cats - squeaker and sherbeena and have a ripple crochet blanket in progress. you can check them all out via my webshots album. (i'm having issues with blogger uploading some of my images.)

i think i might pick up the ripple crochet blanket and try to finish it during our cold snap we're having. it's about 30 inches long so it would hang nicely over my lap and keep me warm while i'm being productive. who knows i might have a cat or two supervise the progress?

oh and guess what i discovered today at work? we have access to this awesome breakroom that has couches and comfy chairs. the room is brightly lit with floor-to-ceiling windows. there's also a tv and cafe-style tables. some of the ladies were watching soaps while they ate their lunch and visited with each other. i felt refreshed and ready to jump back into work after my lunch hour. if i time it right, i could take my lunch and watch qualifying when nascar season is back in full swing. i tell you, this move to the new group keeps getting better and better...lol.

i'm going to go look at some more ripples and granny squares. have a good one!

kisses...

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

new year starting off with a bang!

and yes i'm going to talk about my 4.6 lbs that i lost during the christmas and new year holiday week!!! i was so excited when our ww leader told me how much i had lost.

i don't know how to say this, so i'll just say it. i'm a big girl and i'm not talking tall. i'm only 5 foot 2 inches tall. i was eating my way to getting as wide as i am tall. fortunately we started the weight watchers group at work at just the right time for me. when we began, i was thinking how hard it was going to be to follow the plan during thanksgiving, christmas, and new year's. i love my holiday eating. surprisingly it hasn't been as hard as i thought for me to do what i need to do. i'm more focused now and don't want to jeopardize what i've accomplished so far.

now don't get me wrong...i have made some choices here over the last few days that i haven't been particulary proud of. um, like the dipped cone from dairy queen on sunday and i had a chick fil a ice cream cone one day last week. looking back i see i was craving ice cream. i need to plan on giving myself ice cream from time to time. i love my ice cream and would eat it every day if i could. if i plan ahead and choose when i'm going to have it, then i don't take the chance of backsliding into old eating habits. i've got to do some investigative work to see who has the best ice cream that won't take a whole day's points.

i can only imagine how increasing my activity level ( water aerobics!!) is going to help me reach my 10 percent goal for this first session. i was looking through some of the ww literature on exercising. a person of my size can earn a couple of activity points on a 30 minute wal-mart shopping excursion. that is about as close to "working out" as i'm getting right now so i'll take it.

i feel like 2008 is going to be a banner year for me. it's taken a while, but i think i'm back on track. and i feel really, really good about it!

kisses...
WW update: 4.6 more lbs lost; 17 lbs total!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

happy new year!

hope everyone is having a good 1st day of 2008. i've been knitting and watching bowl games with dad pretty much all day. we started watching about 11 am this morning.

i fixing to go eat black-eyed peas and collards. hopefully we'll have some cornbread too. :)

kisses....